Ciudad Juarez, the U.S. – Mexican border city with the largest level of employment in manufacturing activities, is experiencing a period in which maquiladora job growth is accelerating. This is the conclusion derived from an economic analysis recently performed by experts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

According to B of A Merrill Lynch much of the activity that has resulted in maquiladora job growth in the Chihuahuan border city across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas is a result of stepped up activity in the manufacturing sector that has become Mexico’s most vibrant and dynamic in recent years: the automotive industry.

In terms of maquiladora job growth numbers, Claudia Troitiño-González, who is the Juarez representative of Mexico’s national export industry association, Index, reports that in the first three months of the present year, 8,933 jobs have been created in Ciudad Juarez manufacturing plants. This number represents seventy percent of the 12,827 that were created in city’s production plants over the entirety of 2013.

The maquiladora industry in Ciudad Juarez is by far the border community’s biggest economic engine, and largest source of employment. According to Troitiño-González, sixty-two percent of all salaried positions that are held by members of the border town’s workforce are connected to the maquiladoras. She also points out the importance of the Juarez economy relative to the State of Chihuahua. Fifty percent of jobs occupied by workers in the state are found in Ciudad Juarez, at the border with its US counterpart city, El Paso, Texas.

As further statistical proof of improving economic circumstances, maquiladora job growth in Ciudad Juarez during the first three months of 2014 surpassed 2013 numbers for the similar time frame by 4.15% Given the strong relationship between the border region in Mexico and the United States and its economy, Bank of America Merrill Lynch economists predict that steady maquiladora job growth will continue in Mexico’s north, and in Ciudad Juarez, in particular, should the United States maintain a GDP growth rate of 2.5% or above for the remainder of this year.

Read the primary source for this post in its original Spanish at El Diario.

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